TV nerds: what should I watch
TV nerds: what should I watch
I haven't watched TV in years; kids and my previous job really killed that.
There's SO much out there since I last picked up a remote, and I have a fucking huge backlog.
I'm open to anything, as long as it's well done.
Series I liked: Vikings, Norsemen (hysterical), The Americans, GoT, Man in the High Castle, Expanse, Spartacus (Batiartus is amazing)
I'm scratching the surface of Boardwalk Empire, but open to other rabbit holes.
The Good Place.
Be warned, that you should watch this one without much research. If you like the first episode, you'll love the show.
One of the very few shows where each and every season is consistently great. Super funny and had a satisfying ending, instead of the usual clifferhanger-because-of-cancellation ending
Came here to post this as well.
Just watch the first episode or two, and if it doesn't have you hooked, it's not your jam anyway.
But it will have you hooked, because it's the best piece of American television in recent history.
I highly recommend The Good Place. It's my comfort show.
Severance has a really cool premise and season 2 is being made.
Oh thank goodness, I was afraid it had been canceled.
New season coming out in january
Some shows I really enjoyed in recent years:
- Arcane (amazing animation, world, and story - you don't need to know anything about the game to enjoy it)
- Peaky Blinders (it's finished and so good throughout)
- Travelers (also finished, extremely underrated)
- The Expanse (6 seasons of some of the best sci-fi ever)
- Stranger Things (ongoing but highly recommend)
- Beef (limited series so finished, so good)
- The Bear (very good, raw characters and emotions)
- Ted Lasso (no need to care for football, just extremely lovable characters and heartwarming story)
- Breaking Bad (if you haven't watched this, it's a must - best TV imo)
- The Last of Us (no need to know the game)
- Andor (best star wars since the original trilogy, mature, dark, and suspenseful)
They're in no particular order, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot, but I definitely think all of the above are must watch.
Travelers, The Expanse (noted by OP), Beef, and Breaking Bad are all solid. Add Mare of Easttown, the Morning Show, and the Newsroom and you've got half of my favourite shows of the past 15 years.
Ted Lasso was the big surprise to me here. The characters are lovable, caring, and well-crafted, and the story is simple but compelling. In all, only the most heartless, isolate, human beings would get nothing from this show.
Travelers is such an underrated show! Really good premise, tight well thought out time travel, solid storytelling and some great performances by lesser known actors. I really want to second its recommendations. Honestly it’s not top tier prestige TV but damn it’s good.
"Very good" is an understatement for The Bear.
And recent seasons just keep stacking up the talent.
Here's an ordered list of shows that came to mind, starting with what I think best fits with what you mentioned and getting further away from there, though I think they're all worth it.
Mr robot
Fringe
The boys
Yellow jackets
Stranger things
The good place
Fringe is great. Season 1 is a bit "Monster of the week" but when it gets going it's a great ride.
I love monster of the week episodes. Those are my favorite X-Files episodes, too.
+1 for Mr robot, The boys, and Yellowjackets
The Wire
This. Still one of the best.
Currently rewatching. So good.
Severance
So good.
Six more months until season 2. Counting down the days.
Westworld Season 1. Sooo good, just do it.
S1, half of S2 then stop
man, everything after S1 was such a disappointment.
So many great ideas. But such lackluster execution and dialogue
Season 1 is 10/10, the other seasons not so much. Definitely worth watching S01 on its own though
You're asking on Lemmy? Star Trek.
Which one? Yes.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad + Better Call Saul
Letterkenny! Canadian humour at its absolute finest.
Also What We Do In The Shadows, and Reservation Dogs.
Just a warning, the third episode is notoriously bad and not indicative of the quality of the rest of the show. It's totally skippable.
Aww I love Fartbook.
Andor
The Wire
The Sopranos
Deadwood
Justified
Bosch
If you’re open to comedic stuff:
What We Do In The Shadows
Resident Alien
Miracle Workers
I can't believe no one recommended Fleabag. It's not the type of show that would attract me usually, but goddamn was that a masterpiece. Two seasons, short and sweet.
Another short series that is incredible is Chernobyl.
I couldn’t get over the insane exaggerations of Chernobyl, but I agree the show was great.
Avenue 5 is a brilliant dark sci-fi comedy that I cannot stop thinking about. It’s basically a cruise ship in space but then things go wrong. The physics are actually sound which makes for some really fun and terrifying gags. It’s heavy on dark humor, but if you’re ok with that it’s such a fun ride. I am biased but I feel like this show is criminally underrated.
As a side note, there's a Swedish movie called Aniara which has a similar premise, except if you replace the 'dark comedy' part with 'unrelenting existential horror and infinite, unfathomable bleakness'. Worth a watch lol
I think I understand your taste and you will love Black Sails. This is also imo the single most underrated TV show ever.
I swear all the shows you mention lead me to black sails. I had a phase where I binged like 6 of the shows you mentioned plus black sails since they fit in so well together. I can't say much more than, seriously, trust me on this one.
Scavengers Reign. If you like The Expanse, you might be into sci-fi animated with a seriously weird style. And it's one season with the story tied up in a bow at the end.
I love Scavenger's Reign, and don't remember any of the characters names or the basic story at all.
I feel like it's just a long world building art project.
I LOVED SR. It’s completely unique for animation, I felt, and every scene was like reading a Belgian comic book from the 60s.
- Fawlty Towers
- Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
- Good Omens
- Black Books
- The Expanse
- For All Mankind (feels like a precursor to the expanse)
- The Boys
- Firefly
- Stargate / SG Atlantis
- Castle
- The Orville
Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister
Then for the dramatic take - the BBC version of House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut starring Ian Richardson (Not the US version with Kevin Spacey)
Black Books
...and then Father Ted and IT Crowd
Then I think you have to include the big HBO series: The Wire / The Sopranos / Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon.
Don't think I've seen Foundation or Silo mentioned yet.
Maybe sense8? Much like the expanse it takes a while to get going
3 body problem
This thread has cost me about a terabyte on my NAS.
And you will watch all that, right?
On a long enough timeline, yes! Plus I share my library with like a dozen people so I'm sure someone will appreciate these
Hannibal is a great show. Mads Mikkelsen is the best Hannibal, hands down.
Loved this show. Ended too early
If you like GoT, you'd probably like Shogun
Also Ozark
Another vote for Scavenger's Reign, it was amazing.
I have enjoyed the Wheel of Time episodes on amazon.
Blue Eyed Samurai was beautiful.
The IT Crowd is hilarious.
I thought I was the only one who's seen Scavenger's Reign. I haven't heard much talk about it. Damn shame because it's amazing.
It really is. I had only heard it was sort of hopeless so held out for awhile but my goodness it was just so very good. The art style, story, the very creative settings and flora/fauna, everything. So creative and oddly compelling, we enjoyed it so much.
My T shirt says:
Have you tried turning it off and on again
Based on your references I would say:
- Viking stuff: The Last Kingdom
- Alternate history+space: For All Mankind
- Spy stuff: Slow Horses
- Roman stuff: Rome
Deadwood, Mr Robot, For All Mankind, first season of True Detective, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul
All the star trek. This is not negotiable.
There is an absurd quantity of low quality Trek being shat out recently, did Disney buy the IP or something?
No, thankfully no, Disney's intergalactic shenanigans are limited to the Empire only
Mr Inbetween
An Australian hitman navigates his underworld life and parenthood. Better than it sounds. (Includes some heavy violence)
Turn from AMC is really excellent if you're into revolutionary war spy rings! Excellent writing and acting.
I would also second Andor, fantastic show. Peaky Blinders is another good one, though try not to binge it, I think it'd be much better if watched less avidly.
You have excellent taste - I am extremely picky and will 3 of your recs are easy 10/10 for me.
The Last Kingdom. Better than Vikings.
Haven't watched Vikings, but I can confirm TLK is compelling as hell.
Edit: Aside from the obviously fictional plot it's also pretty damn historically accurate, most of the time, if you care about that.
The Cyberpunk 2077 anime was a trip
I found it very hard to follow without having played the game. There’s a lot of jargon that I didn’t enjoy
I've never played it either, but I liked it. I was definitely lost on the first episode though
If you like Vikings, try Black Sails. A very, very underrated pirate story, unofficial prequel to the story of Treasure Island that you might have read as a kid.
I watch it once a year. It's that good. It recently appeared on Netflix in the USA and it's finally starting to get the attention it deserves.
Hell yeah, such an amazing show!
Based on your previous shows: fallout, shogun and the boys are current.
Fallout - incredible S1 for the video game ip. Hilarious, visually stunning, flavorful
Shogun - game of thrones in japan
The boys - civilians take their city back from super powered heros
Ted lasso [ended] - amazing show about people, likely one of the best of this decade. A meme American football coach from the Midwest moved to the UK to teach a top tier UK futbol league.
Silicon valley [ended] - a tech startup in silicon valley on HBO constantly overcoming challenges with their revolutionary IP.
Avatar the last Airbender [ended] - best of the 2000s, unique flavorful. There is no live action in ba sing se, cartoon only
Disenchantment [ended] - Futurama but medieval magic
One piece live action - another great first showing for anime cross over, skips a lot of the filler and is executed well
+1 for the good place, arcane and last of us
Orphan Black if you like mystery
Oh yes! This was a very good show.
Futurama
Parks and Rec
The Good Place
Avatar: The Last Airbender
A masterpiece you can watch with your kids
"From" And "Evil"
I'm a huge fan of anything Damon Lindelof has been a head writer on
Lost
Watchmen
And my personal all time favorite show:
The Leftovers
He's latest show Mrs. Davis is ok too but not quite as good as his previous stuff.
Another show recommendation that I love to give because no one watched it is The English. It's a crazy stylish western, reminds me of Coen Brothers.
I watched Lost when it aired and Leftovers during the pandemic. I won't post spoilers, but I think Lindelof has a unique brand of writing intentionally disappointing stories that's not for me. Like most people, my partner and i didn't like how Lost ended, but the internet would have me believe that we are the only people in the world who didn't like Leftovers.
I like how the ride starts, I just don't think he's even trying to write an ending that satisfies all the questions he takes the time to ask.
That's fair. Lost had trouble because they were building the track as they went. I still loved the ride though. For me, I don't think every question needs an answer as long as what it creates feeds into the themes of the show. Like on Lost, I wish they never explained the Smoke Monster, it just wasn't necessary.
With Leftovers, I'd say it's ending is the perfect summation of the show and anything else would betray what it was going for.
spoiler
It's a show about logic vs belief and that's where it leaves us, do you believe Nora? What happened to the 2% ultimately doesn't matter because the show is about how people deal with the unexplainable. There's no satisfying answer to that mystery.
You're not alone in not liking the ending though. I've had this conversation before and it's totally ok not to.
It's a short series (six episodes so far) but with two more in production: The Devil's Hour.
Go in blind, don't spoil it for yourself.
If you like a series that gives you all the clues but none of them fall together until the last episode, this one is dark, brain-bendy supernatural mystery with an excellent cast.
Sounds great!
Also if you like Peter Capaldi (the older actor in that show), he was in a really good crime drama recently called Criminal Record, which is only 8 episodes.
Person of Interest.
Wow, Lemmy knows me, knocking it out with an absolute top tier pick at the very top of the hot comments.
Good taste, my friend.
Oh man, I loved that when it was on.
News Radio
Titus
Better Off Ted
Deadloch
Am I Being Unreasonable?
Mandy
Ted Lasso
If you can only do one make it Am I Being Unreasonable? It is incredibly good.
From (https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/124364-from)
Season 3 should be done by end of September.
Other suggestions in this thread are pretty good.
And one of my preferred show; Utopia (the UK version) warning it is unfinished, only two seasons but this is just a great show. Take care of not watching the cropped version. Also it is so cool this TV show aired before COVID19.
- Stranger Things
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Upload
Mrs. Maisel is one of the funniest shows I've seen.
but open to other rabbit holes
If you like satirical comedy or entertaining educational shows, there's a lot on Australian television (particularly shows from the national Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Also, for people who enjoyed The Office (at least, the UK version, I haven't seen the US variant), I recommend Utopia - it's far from a clone but has a lot of similar themes of workplace life mixed with poking fun at bureaucracy and government.
but I don't live in australia, or have a VPN to access ABC iView!
Visit the sidebar resources of [email protected], or even just YouTube will get you a lot of them.
Band of Brothers
If you like the character-plqy of GoT and don't mind a smaller story (i.e. a single conflict rather than a world at war) then I think House of the Dragon is great. I know some are finding the pacing slow, but I'm really enjoying all the 2 or 3 character scenes where it's all about the dialogue.
Edit: another I've not seen in the thread is "The Great", which styles itself as "A sometimes true story". A comedy drama based on Katherine the Great's rise to power in 18th Century Russia - Huzzah! Written by the same writer that did the oscar winning "The Favourite".
Old and left field ones
Wonderfalls Dead like me The almighty Johnsons (nz)
British ones Teachers (Andrew lincolin one) Coupling
Oz.
Then you may proceed with everything else.
The early 00s - the mid 2010s was the era of the anti hero. It gave us some of the best TV series of all time. You will empathize with the the bad guy... Until you don't.
Breaking bad
Ad men
The wire
Dexter
The sopranos
House
I've seen Breaking Bad mentioned. If you enjoy that, check out Your Honor. It's another drama series starring Bryan Cranston.
Red Dwarf. Also that recent Netflix show where they explain trying to solve a complicated maths problem to help aliens, but I forget what it's called now. The one where alien eyes appear in the sky.
And also a weird Youtube video that's quite well-known, along with its sequel. They're called The Hole and The Orb.
The Hole is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAIbvlobWDM
I loved Netflix' new Ripley series. It's cinematographically gorgeous, has a very poignant bit of humor and is generally the best rendition of the story.
I am watching Sweet Tooth now, seems alright.
Some historical drama/fiction I really liked:
- Pillars of the earth
- For all mankind
- The tudors
There’s a Pillars of the Earth series?! I read the book last year and loved it.
If you liked Norsemen, I'd say give Plebs a try. It's another historical sitcom, about a group of losers in ancient Rome.
The pilot for White Dwarf, then sob in abject anger at what could have been but never was.
Lots of good recommendations already. I especially second Last Kingdom since you liked Vikings. There is the series + one movie that ends things. Also seconding Peaky Blinders because it is fucking amazing.
I will add His Dark Materials (based on YA novels, but really good) and Carnival Row (can't vouch for 2nd season yet as haven't had the chance to watch it, but 1st is great).
House of the Dragon too, since you liked GoT (again, can't vouch for 2nd season yet).
Foundation is a surprisingly competent sci-fi show in the second season, but you need to watch the first.
Also of interest: Severance, Person of Interest, The Peripheral, The Returned (French TV show), Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Invincible, Ozark, The Leftovers, Twin Peaks
Not listing obvious masterpieces like Breaking Bad or The Office. These are my top picks that may not be on your radar, in no particular order, most of which are just 1 season, or have ended:
- Scavenger's Reign - 1 season, animated, sci-fi drama
- The Rehersal - 1 season, Nathan Fielder, comedy, introspective
- How To with John Wilson - off-beat, documentation show, very funny and introspective
- Jury Duty - 1 season, hidden camera, comedy
- Red Oaks - 80s coming of age story
- Over the Garden Wall - 1 season, animated, for kids and adults, great to watch during fall/winter
- Tales from the Loop - 1 season, sci-fi, Twilight Zone-style 1-off episodes
- Taskmaster - UK, comedy, gameshow
- Gamechanger - American, comedy, gameshow
I know little about English speaking TV, so can't quite help OP, but I gotta vouch for Taskmaster. This show is just incredible. I've only watched a few UK episodes, but I've watched every single one they've made in Portugal (4 seasons out already, 5th in the making iirc). It's peak cheek-hurting laughter content. It's not sophisticated humour or whatever, but it's undeniably funny AF.
Glad to hear the Portugal version is good. The US version was pretty lame in comparison to the UK version. The thing I like about Greg's judging in TM is how he rewards out of the box thinking, and takes ownership of being the Taskmaster. But it felt like the US TM punished it. "Yeah, the task didn't prohibit you from doing that, and yeah you did it the fastest, but that wasn't really in the spirit of the task, so I can't give you points for it." It was like the most boring game of Cards Against Humanity you can imagine. Apples to Apples with your grandma.
